Red Wings feel need to win, not just pick up sparse points for shot at postseason

AP PhotoDetroit's Dan Cleary tries to get the puck past Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick on Saturday.DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings have left too many points on the
table the past few weeks, squandering leads and wasting opportunities
to put themselves solidly into playoff position and create separation
from teams on their heels.

They are 4-6-4 in their past 14 games and have little margin for error as they try to extend their playoff streak to 19 seasons.

The
Red Wings have three games before the Olympic break, including Tuesday
at St. Louis, when they hope the return of power forward Johan Franzen
from a four-month absence because of a torn knee ligament will provide
a boost.

“Every game for us from here until the end is an incredibly
important two points,” general manager Ken Holland said. “We got to put
a run together. Playing .500 the rest of the year isn’t going to do it.”

“It’s
getting to a point now where games are numbered; we need two points
(per game), not one,” Todd Bertuzzi said. “We got to turn this around
before the break and get some momentum so we can have a strong last
(quarter).”

The Red Wings are in ninth place in a tight Western
Conference playoff race in which only six points separate the
seventh-seeded team (Calgary) from the 12th (Anaheim).

“We have to
take care of our own business, and we haven’t done that the last 10-12
games,” Holland said. “With 24 games to go we’re going to have to win a
lot of games.

“The good news is that we got a good schedule.”

Three things Holland likes about the schedule for the Red Wings:

They play 14 games at home, 10 on the road.

They have only one significant road trip (three games in Western Canada from March 15-20).

They have three games against Nashville and two vs. Calgary, the clubs just ahead of them in the conference.

“Every team we play is basically in the same situation, trying to get to the postseason,” forward Henrik Zetterberg said.

They must match that desperation.

“We’ve
had some moments in games where we play real well, and then we have
some letdowns and they come back and score goals on us,” captain
Nicklas Lidstrom said. “We haven’t had that consistency defensively.”

The
past few weeks have been particularly rough for defensemen Jonathan
Ericsson and Brad Stuart. Ericsson, who has lacked consistency all
season, has a minus-10 rating in his past 10 games. Stuart, who might
be worn down with the extra workload he has had, is a minus-14 in his
past 14 games.

Lilja getting closer

Defenseman Andreas Lilja
had his conditioning stint with Grand Rapids (AHL) extended by two
games. He will play Tuesday in Texas and Friday in Houston for the
Griffins before being evaluated by Red Wings doctors to determine if he
should be activated after an 11-month absence because of a concussion.

“From
a medical standpoint, there were no issues; from a conditioning
standpoint, he was going on adrenaline,” Holland said. “Another week
down there is important for him.”

Holland said he must prepare as if
Lilja will be activated next weekend. That means at least one roster
spot must be cleared and roughly $1.2 million needs to come off the
salary cap by the end of the week.